Sharpener for pencils



Aug. 14, 1962 H. H. HAMPTON 3,049,096

SHARPENER FOR PENCILS Filed Aug. 5. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY.

Aug. 14, 1962 H. H. HAMPTON 3,049,096

SHARPENER FOR PENCILS Filed Aug. 5. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HUGH H. HAMPTON ATTORNEY rates This invention relates broadly to pencilSharpeners, and particularly relates to sharpeners for pencils whichhave a casing from which the lead is mechanically fed from a reservoirstick of lead therein, such pencils being generally termed mechanicalpencils.

Among the problems in known Sharpeners for such mechanical pencils arethe proper aligning of the lead point with the sharpening blade toprevent breaking the lead point when inserting it into sharpeningposition; the releasing of a broken piece of lead from the cuttingblades in the event that the point `should break in the process ofsharpening; the automatic adjustment of the cutting blade to a cuttingposition; the protection of the conical portion of a mechanical pencilcasing during the sharpening operation; and the disposing of thepowdered graphite of the lead. It is the object of the present inventionto provide means to overcome these problems and to provide an improvedsharpener for mechanical pencils simple in construction, economical inmanufacture, and efficient in operation.

Briefly stated, the invention herein comprises an elongated tubularhousing member open at an end for rotatably receiving ltherein thepointed end of a mechanical pencil, the housing having an elongatedresilient cutting blade carrier therein lwhich is loosely mounted andhas intermediate its ends a pivotal point on which the cutting bladecarrier has limited free lateral play or movement for automaticadjustment of cutting blades in relation to the alignment of amechanical pencil point, the cutting blade carrier comprising a pair ofelongated opposed resilient leaf spring arms connected at a lower endand ex tending from a lower portion of the housing towards thepencil-receiving opening and thereby providing an elongated generallyU-shaped member, at least one of the resilient arms having a suitablecutting edge means adjacent to the open end of the casing. Suitablemeans are provided for bringing the cutting edge or edges into cuttingrelation with the lead point of a pencil, and releasing such lead pointfrom the cutting edge in the event of the breakage of the lead point.

Preferred forms in which the invention may be exemplilied are describedin the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings to which reference is made as a part hereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is :a vertical central longitudinal section of one form of theinvention, on line 1-1 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 2 is a vertical central longitudinal section similar to FIG. l,with parts at a different operative position.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a cuttingblade, viewed from the rear face of the blade.

FIG. 4 is a lateral horizontal section of line 4 4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a vertical central longitudinal section of a modied form ofthe invention.

FIG. 6 is a vertical central longitudinal section on line 6 6 of FIG. 7,with parts at a ditferent operative position.

FIG. 7 is a lateral horizontal section on line 7 7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a vertical central longitudinal section of another modied formof the invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the apparatus ofFIG. 8, viewed from the reverse side of FIG. 8, and with parts in adilferent operative position.

3,049,096 Patented Aug. 14, 1962 V"lice FIG. 10 is a lateral horizontalsection on line 10e-10 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a vertical centra-1 longitudinal section of anothermoditication of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a lateral horizontal section on line 12,-12 of FIG. 11.

Firstly referring particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, anelongated tubular housing member 15 is provided which is preferablyexternally cylindrical and may have at a lower portion of its length anaxially elongated tube portion 16 which may preferably be substantiallyrectangular in a horizontal section normal to the axis, the lower end ofthe rectangular tube portion being of reduced dimension providing adischarge opening 17 having a `shoulder 18. At the opposite or upper endportion of lthe housing member is an internally cylindrical chamber 19.Within the lower rectangular portion 16, footed upon and looselysupported fby the shoulder 18, lthere is a resiliently-operativeelongated cutting assembly means generally indicated 20, to be furtherdescribed.

Within the cylindrical chamber 19 of the housing beyond the preferablyrectangular portion and the cutting means 2t?, there is snugly mounted arotatable and axially slidable pencil-tip guide 21 which is externallycylindrical and has au axial inverted conical bore or socket 22therethrough convergingly tapered to an opening 22a at the inverted apexadjacent to :the cutting assembly. The cylindrical chamber 19 is ofgreater axial length than the tip guide 21 for permitting the tip guideto slide axially therein.

At or adjacent to its free terminal end the cylindrical chamber 19 has afixed annular guide collar 23 sufficiently spaced relative to the tipguide 21 to permit the tip guide to slide axially within the cylindricalchamber, and be retained therein by the guide collar 23.

The cutting assembly means generally indicated 20 is mounted in ythelower elongated rectangular tube portion 16, and comprises a pair ofrelatively telescoped retroverted resilient elongated leaf springmembers which are generally irregularly U-shaped the outer spring member25 being a cam strip, and the inner spring member 26 being a cuttingblade carrier which is telescoped longitudinally and loosely slidableWithin the cam spring member 25, so that it may oscillate or havelimited lateral and vertical play therein.

The cam spring member 25 is provided with a b-ase crossbar 27 which mayseat loosely upon the shoulder 18 and has elongated resilient opposedspring arms 28, 29 extending upwardly from the opposite ends of thecrossbar, the spring tension of the arms 28, 29 being inwardlyrelatively toward each other. Arm 29 may be longer than the arm 28,preferably extending to approximately the upper end of the rectangulartube 16, and having intermediate its length a suitalbly formed inwardlyextended guide portion 30. The relatively opposite spring arm 28 ofmember 25 is preferably shorter than spring ann 29 and of lesser lengththan the rectangular tube 16, `being provided at its free upper end witha cam head 31 which is thereby intermediate the ends of the inner springmember 26.

The inner spring member 26 is a cutting lblade carrier for engaging thelead points of pencils which are to be sharpened, and comprises a basecrossbar 32, from each opposite end of which there extends upwardly aspring strip cutter arm, respectively 33, 34, the arm 33 riding infacial contact with the inwardly turned guide portion 30 of arm 29,whereas the arm 34 of the inner spring member has an outwardly formedcam follower portion having a cam follower face 35 vertically inclinedoutwardly and upwardly whereby it contacts and rides upon the cam head31 and due to the said loose mounting of the inner member 26, it mayrock upon said contacting cam faces aca-anse to provide theabove-mentioned limited lateral and vertical play. At the terminal upperend either or both of the cutter arms 33, 34 may be iiangedperpendicularly as at 36 for contacting the lower face of the tip guide21. Adjacent to the free terminal ends the cutter arms 33, 34 arepreferably bent slightly outwardly to conform with the desired angle ofa pencil point, as shown in FIG. 2, and are provided with cutter bladesor edegs 37, which are preferably integral with the cutter arms. Thecutter blades may comprise longitudinal slits 38 in the terminal endportion of said arms, the opposed edges of such slits being turnedslightly inwardly from the plane of the arm to provide the cuttingblades 37, the slits of the cutting blades being inclined downwardly andconverging toward each other at a proper angle to contact the lead pointof a pencil which is engaged thereby, as shown in FlG. 2.

The spring tension of the cutter arms 33, 34 is expandable outwardlyrelatively, and the spring tension of the cam arms 28, 29 of springmember 25 is slightly inward relatively suicient to maintain suitablepressure contact between cam head 31 and cam follower 35. Therefore, thecam head 31 riding against the inclined cam follower face 3S normallyurges the spring arm members 33, 34 of the cutting blade carrier to moveupwardly which, in turn, raises the slidable tip guide 21 to a raisedposition in chamber 19, such upward movement being stopped by guidecollar 23, as shown in FIG. l.

ln operation a mechanical pencil, indicated A, may have its conical tipB and protruding lead point C inserted through the guide collar 23 andinto the conical bore 22 of the rotatable tip guide, the conical taperand the relatively small opening 22a of the tip guide snugly iitting theconica-l point portion of the pencil casing, with the lead point onlyprotruding through the opening 22a, which thus protects the pencilcasing against contact with the cutter blades. By axial pressure uponthe pencil, the tip guide 21 is depressed against the flange 36 of theupwardlyurged cutter blade carrier 26, which, in turn, depresses thecutter blade carrier and its resilient cutter arms 33, 34. Since thespring arms 33, 34 are loosely supported between the guide portion andcam head 31 and are longitudinally slidable in the spring member 25,such depressing of said carrier causes the cam follower surface 35 toride to its high point against cam head 31 (as in PEG. 2), thusspreading the resilient arms 28, 29 of the cam spring member relativelyoutwardly, and simultaneously compressing the resilient cutter arms 33,3d relatively inwardly, whereupon the cutter blades 37 are positionedsufficiently closely spaced relative to the opening 22a for engaging thelead of the pencil point, at which position the pencil casing andhousing 15 may be relatively rotated because of the rotatable mountingof the tip guide 21.

The loose support and mounting of the cutter blade carrier 26 betweenthe inwardly-formed guide 3G and cam head 31 provides a pivot pointintermediate the ends of the arms on which the blade carrier mayslightly oscillate to provide a small amount of free lateral movement ofthe cutter blades and thus accomplish an automatic adjustment of thealignment of the cutting blades to Varying types of pencil casings andthicknesses of lead, and automatically corrects any ymisalignment of theaxis of a pencil lead in relation to the cutting blades. Havingsharpened a point, the retraction and removal of the pencil casing fromthe conical socket 22 permits the cutter blade carrier 26 to riseresponsive to the outward expansive tension of the cam face 35 of member26 and the inward tension of the spring member 2S, the cam head 31acting against the follower face 35 to urge the carrier 26 upwardly,which thereby raises the tip guide 21 and spreads the cutter blade arms33, 34 relatively for a repeat of operation. If the lead point of thepencil breaks in the sharpening thereof, such spreading of the cutterblade arms immediately drops the broken piece of lead free and clear ofthe blades and it may drop through the blades and out of the loweropening 17, upon removal of a plug 17a in said opening.

l Manifestly powdered -lead may be disposed of in a similar manner.

In the modilication exemplified in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the elongatedcylindrical hollow tubular housing has an elongated lower tube portion51 axially thereof, being preferably rectangular, and within which ismounted a cutting assembly generally indicated 52 which islongitudinally slidable in the rectangular tube. The tube has an opening53 at its lower end for discharge of powdered lead or broken piecesthereof, and may have a shoulder 5d to delimit the downward movement ofthe cutting blade assembly 52.

At its opposite upper end portion beyond the rectangular tube 51 thehousing is internally cylindrical providing a cylindrical chamber 55within which is a tip guide member 56 of lesser length than chamber 55and axially slidable and rotatable therein, the tip guide member havinga conical bore 57 axially therethrough converging toward the bladeassembly `and having an end opening 57a for receiving a pencil pointtherethrough. At its free terminal end said cylindrical chamber houses afixed annular guide col-lar 53, for holding the tip guide in thecylindrical chamber.

In the cutting `blade assembly 52 in FIGS. 5 to 7 there is a pair ofgenerally U-shaped elongated strip members disposed at 90 degreesrelatively and comprising a guide member 59 and a cutter blade carrier60 interengaged relatively by telescoping the guide memberlongitudinally into the blade carrier. The cutter blade carrier is ofspring strip material, and the guide memlber may, though notnecessarily, be also characterized by resiliency. The guide member 59has a base crossbar 61 which is mounted within the closed end of theU-shaped cutter blade carrier 6). From :the opposite ends of saidcrossbar of the guide member there are elongated leaf arms 62 whichextend lengthwise upwardly from each end of the crossbar 61 and at theirupper terminal ends are flanged inwardly toward each other as at 63,said flanges being adapted to be contacted by the adjacent lower endface of the tip guide member 56.

The U-shaped cutter iblade carrier 6'0 likewise has at its closed end abase crossbar 64, the lateral plane of which underlies and is parallelto the lateral plane of crossbar 61 of the guide member 59 with which itis in substantial Contact, said crossbar 64 having at its opposite endsupwardly extending opposed parallel spring arms 65 which are in planesat right ang-les to `the planes of the arms of crossbar 61 and whichhave cutter blades 66 at the upper terminal end adjacent to andunderlying the inturned flanges 63, of the guide member, the cutterblades being substantially similar to the cutter blades described inFIGS. l to 4. The spring tension of the arms 65 is expandingly outwardrelatively. intermediate the ends of the cutter blade arms 65 each ofsaid arms is provided with an outwardly `formed bend 67 providingupwardly and outwardly inclined cam follower faces 63 which are inloosely slidable contact with suitable cam faces 69, provided by theinner ends of set screws adjustably mounted through the wall of housing5t) at such position that the cam faces of the screws may contact theinclined cam follower faces 68 of the cutter arms. Thus, by the outwardspring action of arms 65 coupled with the cam action the cutter bladeassembly is raised and the free ends of the spring arms expand outwardlyrelatively, simultaneously raising the tip guide '56 in chamber 55.

When the cutter blade assembly and tip guide are at raised position thecasing of a mechanical pencil may be inserted through guide collar 58with the conical tip of the pencil casing engaged in conical bore socket57 and its lead point extending through opening 57a, as shown in FIG. 5,to which position the cutter assembly and tip guide are moved responsiveto the upward spring-actuated movement of the inclined cam followers 68against the cam faces 69. Upon pressure axially upon the pencil casing,the tip guide 56 is depressed and thereby depresses the guide member 59and its arms 62; and since the crossbar 61 thereof overlies the crossbar64 of the cutter blade carrier, the latter is likewise depressed, whichdraws the inclined cam follower faces 68 across the cam faces 69 andthereby moves the cutter arms engaged thereby toward each other, as inFIG. 6, to engage the cutter blade with the lead point of the pencil tipwhich extends through the conical bore opening 57a, the pencil beingrotated in tip guide 58 in the sharpening operation. Upon retraction ofthe pencil tip from the conical bore the entire cutter assembly 52rebounds resiliently upwardly responsive to the expanding pressure ofcam follower faces 68 against the cam faces 69, thereby lifting theguide strip member 59 because the base crossbar 61 of the guide stripoverlies the base crossbar 64 of the cutter blade carrier, thus againraising the tip guide 56 to its initial position for repeat operation.As previously described, the loosely free seating and support of thecutting blade carrier on the cams 69 intermediate the ends of the armsof the cutter blade carrier permits sufiicient rocking play or freelateral movement of the cutting blades for automatically ladjusting themin relation to alignment of the lead point of the pencil. Any portion ofthe lead broken in the sharpening operation is dropped from the cuttingblades by the relative spreading thereof upon withdrawal of the penciland spreading of the cutting blades by the upward movement of theassembly 52. Any powderedlead may also drop through opening 53.

In FIGS. 8 to l0, a further modification is disclosed in whichmechanical means are provided for rotating the housing and cuttingblades relative to a pencil, this modiiication being especially adaptedfor employment in a base stand such as a desk set or the like.

An externally cylindrical tubular housing 80 is provided having at itsupper end a fixed annular guide collar 81 for receiving therethrough thetip portion of a mechanical pencil casing whereby the conical tip of thepencil casing may be inserted in the conical socket bore 82 and smallend opening 82a of a tip guide 83, the latter being rotatably andslidably mounted in a cylindrical chamber portion 84 next adjacent tocollar 81, the chamber being of greater length than the tip guide topermit the latter to slide axially therein. Below the cylindricalchamber there is an elongated tubular portion 85 in the housing, whichis preferably rectangular, as previously described. Mounted in therectangular tube portion is a retroverted irregularly U-shaped integralcutter-blade carrier 86 provided with relatively retroverted elongatedspring arms 87 and 88 which are preferably of fiat spring strip materialand are relatively spaced in opposed generally parallel planes withexpanding tension outwardly relative to each other. The arm 87 has aflange 89 at its free terminal end for contact with the lower adjacentface of the tip guide 83. The other spring arm 88 has a portionintermediate its ends bent outwardly providing a cam follower face 90which rides in axial slidable contact with a cam face 91 of anadjustable set screw 92 mounted through the housing, the cutter-blademember having a relatively small amount of lateral play or free rockingmovement by being .freely mounted and supported intermediate its ends onthe cam for self-adjusting alignment of its cutting blades 93 relativeto the lead of the pencil, as shown in FIG. 9.

As in other exemplications of the invention, the upper terminal endportions of the spring arms 87, 88 which are adjacent to tip guide 83mount the cutter blades 93. The normal position of the tip guide 83 isat raised position (FIG. 8) and depressing of the tip guide by insertiontherein and slight pressure of the conical tip of a mechanical pencilcasing, thereupon depresses the blade carrier 86, whereby the camfollower 90, acting upon the cam 91, brings the cutting blades intoclose relative proximity for engaging the lead point of the pencil whichextends through the opening 82a of a conical socket bore 82. Uponwithdrawal of the pressure of the pencil from the socket 82 the camfollower and cam again raise the spring member 86 and the tip guide 83to an initial position for repeat operation, such raising of the springarms 87, 88 spreading the blades to remove therefrom any broken portionof the lead point.

Means are provided for mechanically rotating the assembly of housing 80,spring member 86, and cutting blades 93, with relation to the tip guide83 and a pencil tip engaged in the socket thereof. Such a means maycomprise an elongated helical strip 94 having one end secured in aspider block 95 fixedly mounted in the lower end of the housing 80 andhaving openings therethrough for disposition of powdered and brokenlead. The opposite end of the helical blade passes `slidably through aslot 96 of a cross strip 97 mounted laterally transversely through atubular cylindrical guide member or casing 98 into which the housing 80is snugly slidable axially, the latter being supported vertically by anysuitable base member 98a. A helical coil spring 99 in the guide casingmay provide expansive tension and compression against which the housing80 may be resiliently reciprocated in the tubular member 98, causing thehelical blade to slide through the slot 96 and thereby rotate thecylindrical housing 80 as well as the spring arms 86 and blades 93, withrelation to the lead of a pencil point and a pencil tip engaged in thetip guide 83, the tip guide and housing 80 having relative rotationtherebetween. Since the purpose of the coil spring is to provide aresilient action to vertical reciprocation of the pencil sharpeningmechanism, the spring 99 should have an expansive tension valuesufficient to maintain the resilient cutter blades in cutting-contactwith a pencil point during the reciprocation of the tubular housing 80in the tube 98.

In FIGS. 11 and 12 a simplified form of the invention is disclosed inwhich there is a cylindrical tubular casing 100 having therein anelongated longitudinal tube 101, which is preferably rectangular inlateral section in a lower major portion of its length. The oppositeupper portion of the tubular casing has a cylindrical chamber 102 andwithin the outer end portion of which is mounted a fixed annular pencilguide collar 103. Between the guide collar and the adjacent end of therectangular tube, there is rota-tively mounted in the cylindricalchamber 102 a pencil tip guide 104 having an inverted conical taperedsocket bore 105 converging downwardly to an opening 105a therethrough.In this modification it is not necessary for the tip guide to slideaxially in chamber 102 and its inner end may rest freely for rotation ona shoulder 102a which is formed at the juncture between the rectangularand cylindrical portions of the tube 101. Adjacent to the opposite orlower end of the tubular casing there is moun-ted through the wallthereof -a pin 106 of relatively small diameter, below which there is anopening 107 through which powdered or broken pieces of lead may drop outof the casing. Within the rectangular tube 101, and having its lower endseated loosely on the pin 106, there is a cutter blade carrier generallyindicated 108, comprising an integral spring s-trip retroverted uponitself to provide a generally U-shaped member having at its closed end acrossbar 109 loosely supported on pin 106 with sufficient freedom topermit a limited rocking movement of the blade carrier on its mounting,as previously described. From each of the opposite ends of the crossbar109, there extends upwardly a spring arm y110, 111, said arms being ingenerally parallel spaced planes, and tensioned or spring-biasedoutwardly relatively. The opposite upper ends of the arms are free andterminate at substantially the upper end of the rectangular tube 101, inclosely spaced relation relative to opening 105a of the conical bore105. Adjacent said upper free terminal end each arm is provided at therespective` opposed faces with the cutting blades 112 which may beformed in the spring arms 110, 111 similarly as described in FIGS. l to4. Normally these arms and cutter blades thereof are relatively spacedat said free end of the arms responsive to the expansively outwardspring tension of the arms. Means are provided for manually bringing thecutter blades into close relative proximity suthciently to engagetherebetween the lead point of a pencil extending through openingltliSa, such means comprising a pair of oppositely spaced manuallyoperable plunger buttons il@ having extended shanks which are mounted inand extend loosely slidable through opposite openings lll through thehousing wall intermediate the ends of the rectangular tube portion. Theshanks of the buttons are not lixedly connected to the spring arms, buthave their respective inner ends bearing by a free facial pressure onlyupon a longitudinally central portion intermediate the ends of thespring arms H0, lll which tension or spring-bias the plungerlbuttonsoutwardly so that the opposite ends of the spring arms have a limitedamount of lateral play by rocking oscillation of the spring arms on theinner contacting ends of the button Shanks.

In operation of Ithe modification of FIGS. l1 and l2, When a mechanicalpencil is inserted through the collar 103 with the conical tip of thepencil casing seated in the conical socket bore 105, `the lead point ofthe pencil extends through the opening ltla and the lead point ispositioned between the cutting blades 112, whereupon the plunger buttons113 may be manually pressed to bring the cutting blades into contactwith the lead point. The loose mounting of the crossbar lil@ of thespring arms on the pin 106, and the spring-pressure engagement of thearms intermediate their ends by the end of the shank of respectiveplunger buttons 113 permits the cutting blades sufficient play orfreedom of oscillation on the pivot point of the inner ends of theShanks of the plunger buttons to automatically adjust the cutting bladesto the alignment of the axis of conical bore 16M, ltlSa and the pencilpoint, the tip guide 194 protecting the conical tip of the pencilcasing. Any broken portions of lead point may be dropped clear of thecutting blades upon release of pressure on 4the plunger buttons.

Obviously the sharpening operation in all of the described devicescontemplates a rotation of the pencil and cutting blades relative toeach other when the cutting blades are in cutting relation.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and patentableis:

l. Apparatus for sharpening pencils, including a tubular housing havingtherein a cylindrical chamber adjacent to one end portion, a pencil tipguide rotatable and axially slidable in said cylindrical chamber andhaving an inverted conical axial bore therethrough providing an openingat the inverted apex of the bore, a resilient cutter blade assemblymounted in the opposite end portion of the housing, said cutter bladeassembly including a pair of elongated substantially U-shaped membersone of which is telescoped in the other, and one of said U-shapedmembers being a cutter blade carrier having a pair of spring armstensioned outward relatively and having free terminal ends adjacentlyspaced from the tip guide, at least one of said arms having a cutterblade at the free terminal end thereof, and means responsive to theaxial reciprocation of the tip guide for resiliently urging said freeterminal ends of the arms toward each other adjacently to the saidopening of the conical bore of the tip guide whereby the lead point of apencil extending through the said inverted opening of the tip guide maybe engaged between said free terminal ends and the cutter blade carriedthereby.

2. A Sharpener device for pencils las set forth in claim 1, the saidcutter blade carrier being mounted loosely in the housing foroscillation and being axially slidable therein, said carrier having acam follower portion intermediate the ends thereof, and including cammeans engaging said cam follower portion and urging the cutter bladecarrier axially of the tubular housing toward the slidable tip guide.

Cit

3. A pencil sharpening device of the character described as set forth inclaim l, and including means engaging the cutter blade carrierintermediate the opposite ends thereof and providing a pivot point aboutwhich the cutter blade may oscillate.

4. A Sharpener device for pencils as set forth in claim l, said cutterblade carrier being axially slidable longitudinally of the housing andhaving an upwardly and outwardly inclined cam follower portionintermediate the ends thereof, and cam means engaging said cam followerportion and adapted for urging the cutter blade carrier in one axialdirection towards the slidable tip guide and urging the cutter bladearms toward each other when the tip guide depresses the cutter bladecarrier in an opposite direction.

5. Apparatus for sharpening pencils as set forth in claim 1, the saidcam means loosely engaging the cutter blade carrier intermediate theopposite ends thereof and providing a pivot point about which the cutterblade carrier may oscillate.

6. A Sharpener device for pencils comprising a tubular housing havingtherein a cylindrical chamber adjacent one end portion, a pencil tipguide rotatable and axially slidable in said cylindrical chamber andhaving an inverted conical axial bore therethrough, said bore having asmaller opening at one end portion of the chamber, an elongated cutterblade carrier mounted axially in the opposite end portion of thehousing, said cutter blade carrier including a Spring strip retrovertedupon itself to provide an elongated generally U-shaped member having aclosed end and a pair of spring arms extending from Said closed endtoward said tip guide, said arms being tensioned outwardly relativelyand having cutter blade means at the free end thereof adjacent to thetip guide, a cam follower portion intermediate the ends of at least oneof said arms, and cam means engaging said cam follower portion, said camand cam follower portion being actuated by axially sliding of the tipguide for cooperating in one direction to urge the cutter blade carriertoward the tip guide and thereby spreading its arms outward relativelyand cooperating in the opposite direction to urge the cutter bladestoward each other whereby the cutter blade means is positioned inalignment with the opening of the conical bore.

7. Apparatus for sharpening pencils as set forth in claim 6, the saidcam means comprising a substantially U-shaped spring strip memberretroverted upon itself and having arms tensioned relatively inwardly,said cutter blade carrier being longitudinally telescoped into said camstrip member, the spring cam strip member having a cam portion looselybearing against the cam follower portion of the cutter blade carrier.

8. A pencil sharpening device of the character described as set forth inclaim 6, and in which the cam member loosely supports the cutter bladecarrier intermediate the opposite ends thereof whereby the free terminalends of the cutter blade carrier may loosely oscillate for adjusting thecutter blade in alignment with the axis of the conical bore.

9. In a Sharpener device for pencils, having a tubular housing, a penciltip guide rotatably mounted in one end portion of the tubular housing,said tip guide having an inverted conical bore axially therethrough, acutter blade carrier mounted in the housing including a spring stripretroverted upon itself to provide an elongated generally U-shapedmember having a closed end mounted in the end portion of the housingopposite to the tip guide, the said U-shaped member having a pair ofspring arms extending from said closed end and spring-tensionedoutwardly relatively whereby the free ends thereof are normally spacedapart, the free ends of said arms terminating adjacently to the tipguide, at least one of said arms having a cutter blade at the free endportion thereof adjacent to the tip guide, and means for selectivelyurging said normally spaced free ends of the arms toward each otheradjacently to the conical bore of the tip guide whereby the lead pointof a pencil in the tip guide may be positioned between said spaced freeends of the arms in contact with the cutter blade, the combinationtherewith of means for axially rotating the tubular housing and cutterblade carrier relative to the tip guide, comprising a tubular guidecasing into which one end portion of the tubular housing is snuglyrotatable and slidable axially, a helical coil spring supportedlongitudinally within the guide casing, a helical blade xedly connectedto the end portion of the tubular housing and rotatably extendinglongitudinally through the coil spring, and slotted means within theguide casing slidably receiving the helical blade therethrough forrotating said blade on its axis whereby the said tubular housing andcutter blade carriers may be axially rotated when the tubular housingand the guide casing are relatively reciprocated.

l0. A Sharpener device for pencils comprising an elongated tubularhousing, a pencil tip guide member rotatably mounted in one end portionof the tubular housing, said tip guide having an inverted conical boreaxially therethrough for receiving a pointed end of a pencil, anelongated cutter blade carrier longitudinally mounted loosely in thehousing between said tip guide and the opposite end of the housing, saidloose mounting providing for limited amount of lateral movement at theopposite ends of the blade carrier, said carrier comprising a springstrip retroverted upon itself as an elongated generally U-shaped memberhaving a closed end loosely mounted in the end portion of the housingopposite the tip guide, the said U-shaped blade carrier having a pair ofelongated spring arms extending from said loosely mounted closed endportion, and the opposite free ends of said arms terminating adjacentlyto the tip guide, at least one of said arms having a cutter blade at thefree end portion thereof adjacent to the tip guide, the said arms beingspring-tensioned oppositely relatively whereby said arms and the freeend portions thereof at the cutter blade are normally spaced apart, andmeans at the exterior of the housing spring-biased outwardly byengagement with the spring arms, and being manually operable inwardlyagainst said spring arms for urging said normally spaced free endportions of the spring arms toward each other at said blade portion ofthe arms, said last mentioned means having free facial Contact bearingagainst the spring arms centrally intermediate the ends of said arms,whereby the spring arms may rockingly oscillate on said facial contactbearing for aligning the loosely mounted blade portion of the bladecarrier with the axis of the conical bore of the tip guide.

ll. A sharpening device for pencils, as set forth in claim l0, and inwhich said means manually operable at the exterior of the housing formanually urging the normally spaced free end portions of the spring armstoward each other, comprises a pair of plunger buttons relativelyopposed, respectively, exterior of the housing and each having anextended shank extending slidably inwardly through the wall of thehousing, the inner end of the respective Shanks having free facialbearing contact against an adjacent one of said spring arms, wherebysaid buttons are spring-biased outwardly and manually operable inwardlyagainst said spring arms, said free facial bearing contact being incentrally spaced relation intermediate the ends of the arms whereby saidopposite ends of the spring arms `may rockingly oscillate on said facialbearing Contact for aligning the `blade bearing end of the blade carrierwith the axis of the conical bore of the tip guide member, the saidspring arms being substantially parallelly spaced relatively andintegral throughout the length thereof, the said arms being connectedintegrally at the end thereof opposite the blade-mounting end, wherebysaid arms are spring biased outwardly in the centrally intermediateportion thereof upon which said inner ends of the button Shanks havefree facial bearing contact.

Anderson Sept. 6, 191() Boye Apr. 23, l9l8

